Saturday, January 23, 2016

"The Finest Hours" tells story of Wrentham man’s role in historic sea rescue

By Patrick Coleman

Sixty-four years have passed, but the details of February 18, 1952 have stayed with Mel Gouthro, a retired Coast Guard Lt. Commander and Wrentham resident. Assigned to Chatham Lifeboat Station, he remembers the giant winter storm slamming Cape Cod and going to help the local fishermen secure their boats at the Chatham Fish Pier in Old Harbor. Gouthro recalls the sickness that kept him ashore later in the day and in vivid detail still sees the men that went out to rescue the crew of the SS Pendleton, a tanker split in two off the coast.

His memories, along with those of others, were captured and used in the book, "The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue". Now that book is the film, "The Finest Hours", opening on January 29. The octogenarian saw the film last week in a special screening along with an entourage that included his wife, seven children, fourteen grandchildren, two priests and people he works with at the Parish of St. Mary. “It was a fantastic movie,” Gouthro said the day after the screening.

In the film, Gouthro is portrayed by actor Beau Knapp and is only referred to by his nickname, Gus. The two spent some time together during the filming but being portrayed by a young Hollywood actor didn’t really excite Gouthro. “I could care less,” he says. “I don’t get excited about something like that.”

But adds, “He was a nice young guy.”

What he does appreciate is the film shining a light on the bravery of the four men who went out to rescue the crew of the Pendleton. Bernie Webber, Andrew Fitzgerald, Richard Livesey and Irving Maske were honored with the Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal, its higest honor, but the story of their heroics remained relatively unknown until authors Michael J. Tougiasand Casey Sherman wrote the book. The new film will certainly help spread the word even more and that’s what Gouthro appreciates. “They should have got more publicity,” he says.

Of the four men that headed out to sea to save the Pendelton’s crew only Fitzgerald is alive today.

Gouthro has been pivotal in the telling of the story. He spent several days being interviewed by Tougias who lives five miles from the Wrentham resident’s home. As they would review the events of that day, details would return to him. “I remember that, as [Tougias] kept digging the memories kept coming back,” Gouthro said. “I remember everything that happened.”

At the time, Gouthro was 21 and had been in the Coast Guard for 4 years. He needed to have his father sign a waiver so he could join and would ultimately serve until 1976 when he retired and moved to Wrentham. On the day of the Pendleton rescue, Gouthro remembers spending the morning assisting fishermen who needed help. Later in the day, he and his shipmates then went out to Nauset Station and climbed aboard an amphibious (DUKW), or "Duck", to search for wreckage on the beach. Not finding any, they were called back to their station. “We worked all day,” Gouthro said. “I was kind of beat up…getting the flu. I hit the sack.”

Weber was soon calling out to “Gus” to head out again, but Gouthro’s cold had the better of him, and his roommate Fitzgerald took his place. Livesey and Maske rounded out the crew, and all four men headed out into the dangerous storm to rescue the crew from the sinking Pendleton. “The fishermen told them, ‘you guys are crazy,’” Gouthro recalls.

Without spoiling too much of the film, Gouthro says the movie accurately captures the action of that day. “If you see the movie,” he says. “You’ll see some real life.”

Gouthro did serve as a consultant for the film advising Knapp, his big screen counterpart, about the incident and what he was like as 21 year old member of the Coast Guard. In an online interview Knapp said, Gouthro told him “he likes to have fun with life.”

“I wasn’t always serious,” Gouthro said. “And I’m still not.”

Knapp added in his interview, “He is such a sweetheart. It was an honor to play someone so incredible and so very nice.”

Gouthro’s brush with Hollywood continues in the coming weeks. He is planning to attend a red carpet event and maybe a few more screenings. “It is going to be two pains and one rear-end,” he says laughing. “I know I am going to see it a couple more times.”